James Madison sent 15 batters to the plate in a 12-run fourth inning and cruised to a 21-8 win over Hofstra in a Colonial Athletic Association baseball game on Saturday afternoon at Eagle Field at Veterans Memorial Park.
JMU snapped a two-game losing skid and improved to 12-3 overall, 4-1 in the CAA. Hofstra dropped to 1-9 overall, 1-1 in the league.
The Dukes got nine hits in the fourth inning and struck for all 12 runs consecutively with one out before the second out was recorded. The big hits of the inning came from a trio of Richmond-area Dukes with a three-run triple by junior catcher Jake Lowery (Midlothian, Va./Cosby), a three-run homer by sophomore second baseman Bradley Shaban (Midlothian, Va./Cosby), and a two-run single by freshman third baseman Conner Brown (Richmond, Va./Godwin).
Overall, JMU got its 21 runs on 20 hits with the trio of Lowery, Shaban and sophomore left fielder Johnny Bladel (Ashburn, Va./Stone Bridge) combining to go 11-for-14 with 14 RBIs. Lowery singled, tripled and hit his league-leading ninth home run while driving in five. Bladel and Shaban each went 4-for-5 in the eighth and ninth spots in the order with four and five RBIs, respectively.
Senior left-hander Alex Valadja (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Catholic) earned the win, allowing five runs on nine hits through five innings with three of the runs coming in the fifth after sitting through JMU’s 12-run fourth. He improved to 2-0.
Jared Rogers took the loss for Hofstra to fall to 0-2 after allowing eight runs on eight hits in 3 1/3 innings. Catcher Dylan Nasiatka was 3-for-4 with a solo home run as one of six Hofstra batters with multiple hits. Center fielder Danny Poma, shortstop Matt Ford, right fielder Kenny Jackson, first baseman Jared Hammer, and second baseman Logan Davis each had two hits.
Holding a 3-2 lead in the JMU fourth, Brown led off with a double just inside the third-base bag. After a strikeout, Bladel hit a high chopper just over the head of the third baseman for an RBI single, advancing to second on the throw. Shaban followed with a single through the right side for a 5-2 JMU lead. After a walk loaded the bases, Lowery then greeted new pitcher Stephan Kungl with a bases-clearing triple to the corner in right for an 8-2 lead. Senior shortstop David Herbek (Haymarket, Va./Battlefield) then singled through a drawn-in infield to score Lowery. After leading off the inning, Brown then added a two-run single to center to make it 11-2. An RBI double by Bladel made it 12-2. After another pitching change, Shaban unleashed a three-run blast to right field for his first career round tripper.
Senior center fielder Alex Foltz (Mathias, W.Va./East Hardy) started the JMU first inning by singling and stealing second. He moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore right fielder Cole McInturff (Centreville, Va./Westfield) and scored on an RBI single by Lowery. Herbek followed with a double off the wall in left, allowing Lowery to score all the way from first for a 2-0 lead.
Hofstra threatened for a significant rally in the third. Hammer singled and second baseman Bobby Gazzola was hit by a pitch on a bunt attempt. Poma then singled on the first pitch to load the bases with no outs. After a strikeout, Nasiatka singled to right to drive in the first Pride run. However, Valadja escaped the jam by inducing a double play groundout.
JMU got the run back quickly as Lowery launched his CAA-leading ninth home run of the season to right center in the bottom of the third for a 3-1 score.
The Pride rallied with two outs in the fourth as Flynn drew a full-count walk and then scored all the way from first on a full-count double to the corner in right by Hammer, pulling back within a run at 3-2 only to see the Dukes erupt for 12 in the bottom of the frame.
Hofstra loaded the bases with no outs again in the fifth. After a strikeout, a sacrifice fly by third baseman Joe Perez was followed by a pinch-hit two-run double by Jackson to make it 15-5 JMU.
In the bottom of the fifth, JMU loaded the bases with one out and got one run on a fielder’s choice RBI groundout by freshman designated hitter Tyler McFarland (Bridgewater, Va./Turner Ashby), followed by a two-run double by Bladel. Shaban added an RBI single to right to make it 19-5.
After JMU left the bases loaded in the sixth, left fielder Bryan Verbitsky drilled a two-run home run in the seventh for Hofstra to make it 19-7.
Sophomore catcher Billy Logan (Greenup, Ky./Greenup County) smacked a two-run home run for JMU in the seventh, his first of the season. Hofstra came back with an RBI double by Ford in the eighth.
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